Masters Shelter to Sentry Box:  A trip of multiple tramps

Golden Crown, Aranga Hut, Sentry Box, Parks Peak Hut, Ruahine FP, Saturday 15 March 2025
Banner Photo: The track across the tops ridge

Twelve left Park Island at 7am for the longer drive to Mangleton Road, because the Keruru Bridge is still under construction (HDC advises it will be completed by end April). Seven were dropped off at the Masters Shelter end to do the walk over Golden Crown and come down via Sentry Box. Of those seven, a faster group took a deviation to view Aranga Hut. The remaining five travelled further down the road to take the shorter option to go up from the Sentry Box end to the tops and have the van available for the others coming across.

Amelia reports on the five who went up from the Sentry Box end:

A beautiful morning start accompanied by the full moon, and our sense of adventure promised for a fun day out to Parks Peak Hut.

Our little group (Barbara, Donna, Amelia, Juliet and Rob) left the van on the roadside about 9am to immediately test our calves and endurance for hill climbs in the Ruahine Ranges.  First stop was Sentry Box Hut, 10 minutes in.  This was great for a toilet stop (and how lovely that there was toilet paper available).

Then the rocky steep climb up began through the bush.  It wasn’t going to be Rob’s day out for the steep climb, so Juliet returned with him to the van. Having made sure that the lock-box opened for him, she left the van at 11am to start the climb again.

Meanwhile, Barbara, Donna and Amelia continued, making sure we kept together.  A rainbow gave us the inspiration to keep going.  A couple of interesting sights along the way included a makeshift tent and hammock, presumably a hunter’s, and the famous Red Chair.

A decision about the lunch spot needed to be made – trig station or Peaks Park Hut?

At the T junction, we followed Juliet’s instructions to draw an arrow on the ground to show where we were, if she came back up.

We were keen to see the view, so headed off to Pohatuhaha trig.  There were gale-force winds but Amelia was comfortably waiting by a large rock, while Barbara and Donna triumphantly touched the trig station.

Feeling hungry, we decided to head to Parks Peak Hut, rubbing out the arrow on the forest floor to the trig, and drawing one pointing to the hut.  We set off with enthusiasm, knowing the hut was 30 minutes away (so the sign post says). It’s actually 45 minutes.

It was the longest 30 mins ever!  Hunger and not knowing where the hut was created a new challenge.  We were going to stop and eat, but Donna said keep going. We’re so glad she did.  We arrived at Parks Peak hut happily opening our lunch boxes and within five minutes, Juliet was coming in to join us.  Perfect timing.

Right on 1.30pm, the quartet returned to the T junction and then took the steep descent. Did we really go up that?

We met the other group back at the van, to share the day’s tramping adventures.

Elly reports:

Seven chose to be dropped off at the entrance to the Masters Shelter Track, climb to the tops via the Golden Crown Ridge, and walk over the tops before descending via the Sentry Box Track.

Darran, Campbell and Ali steamed ahead and we didn’t see them again until we got back to the van. The 1.2 km farmland track to Masters Shelter shows that this route is not often used. I wouldn’t try to take my car in here as in the past. The track going up the Golden Crown Ridge showed similar signs of under-use.

Combine this with the late summer season and the ferns, astelias and other plants having grown to their full glory, Rebecca, Kate, Phil and I found it hard going. In many places, it was very overgrown and difficult to see the track. After just under 900 metres of climbing and 3h 20m, we arrived at the junction on the ridge. The views from the track to the east were magnificent.

The nice thing about this tramp is that, once the climb is over, the track over the tops is not only easy-going, but also very beautiful with the goblin forest surrounding us.

There was a very strong and cold wind on the tops, but the trees provide a lot of shelter, which made the next part very pleasant. We decided to leave Aranga Hut for what it was and had lunch just past the Aranga turn-off, once we were out of the wind and into the forest again. At one point, we could see the Pohatuhaha trig and three people on top – probably Campbell, Darran and Ali.

Again, because of the wind, we left the trig point for next time and carried on to the Sentry Box turn-off. Excluding our breaks, the ridge section had taken us 1h 40m. The downhill to Sentry Box was steep but in very good condition. We had expected strong winds at the rocky knoll, but it had calmed down.

Another 1h 30m and we were back at the van after a solid tramp. The other three had already arrived, and had managed to get to Aranga. My watch said we had walked 16.08km, with a total ascent of 1217m and a descent of 1083m.

Campbell reports:

Darran, Ali and I went quickly over Golden Crown Track and after two hours reached the turn-off to No-Man’s Hut, to be greeted by howling wind and misty drizzle. We turned left to head to Aranga Hut.

Luckily the robust hill-top trees deflected the gale-force wind and I enjoyed spotting a variety of fungi including my favourite, Dog Vomit.

After an hour’s walk along the tops, we reached Aranga Hut and stopped for a lunch break outside. We cooled down quickly during this rest and layered up before heading back to the main track. Just over an hour later, we scrambled up Pohatuhaha trig. It was hard to stand up there.

We then wandered down the relatively dry track until I found a damp patch near Sentry Hut and took a slip. Despite that, we three enjoyed our relaxing tramp.

Trampers: Darran Gillies, Campbell Living, Ali Hollington, Rebecca Thompson, Kate Fuller, Phil Shakespeare and Elly Govers